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How Did We Get into This Mess?: Politics, Equality, Nature
Leading political and environmental commentator on where we have gone wrong, and what to do about it
“Without countervailing voices, naming and challenging power, political freedom withers and dies. Without countervailing voices, a better world can never materialise. Without countervailing voices, wells will still be dug and bridges will still be built, but only for the few. Food will still be grown, but it will not reach the mouths of the poor. New medicines will be developed, but they will be inaccessible to many of those in need.”
George Monbiot is one of the most vocal, and eloquent, critics of the current consensus. How Did We Get into This Mess?, based on his powerful journalism, assesses the state we are now in: the devastation of the natural world, the crisis of inequality, the corporate takeover of nature, our obsessions with growth and profit and the decline of the political debate over what to do.
While his diagnosis of the problems in front of us is clear-sighted and reasonable, he also develops solutions to challenge the politics of fear. How do we stand up to the powerful when they seem to have all the weapons? What can we do to prepare our children for an uncertain future? Controversial, clear but always rigorously argued, How Did We Get into This Mess? makes a persuasive case for change in our everyday lives, our politics and economics, the ways we treat each other and the natural world.
“Without countervailing voices, naming and challenging power, political freedom withers and dies. Without countervailing voices, a better world can never materialise. Without countervailing voices, wells will still be dug and bridges will still be built, but only for the few. Food will still be grown, but it will not reach the mouths of the poor. New medicines will be developed, but they will be inaccessible to many of those in need.”
George Monbiot is one of the most vocal, and eloquent, critics of the current consensus. How Did We Get into This Mess?, based on his powerful journalism, assesses the state we are now in: the devastation of the natural world, the crisis of inequality, the corporate takeover of nature, our obsessions with growth and profit and the decline of the political debate over what to do.
While his diagnosis of the problems in front of us is clear-sighted and reasonable, he also develops solutions to challenge the politics of fear. How do we stand up to the powerful when they seem to have all the weapons? What can we do to prepare our children for an uncertain future? Controversial, clear but always rigorously argued, How Did We Get into This Mess? makes a persuasive case for change in our everyday lives, our politics and economics, the ways we treat each other and the natural world.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 19, 2016
241 people are currently reading
4092 people want to read
About the author
George Monbiot
43 books1,084 followersGeorge Joshua Richard Monbiot is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
June 7, 2017
So I picked this up after reading its author's helpful primer on neoliberalism, a topic whose exposure I am perennially on the lookout for following Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
Unfortunately (for me), and despite its title's conformity with what I imagined it promised, this was mostly just a compendium of (somewhat tendentious and repetitive) articles Monbiot has written for The Guardian over the past decade or so. Some are interesting, but they really cannot tackle much of substance given that the longest one isn't more than 10 pages. And he has his hobbyhorses--the environment, the US-UK "Special Relationship," social inequality, etc.--so I mostly stopped reading every article for each "chapter" and just read the first one of each.
Just not what I look for in a book, really.
Unfortunately (for me), and despite its title's conformity with what I imagined it promised, this was mostly just a compendium of (somewhat tendentious and repetitive) articles Monbiot has written for The Guardian over the past decade or so. Some are interesting, but they really cannot tackle much of substance given that the longest one isn't more than 10 pages. And he has his hobbyhorses--the environment, the US-UK "Special Relationship," social inequality, etc.--so I mostly stopped reading every article for each "chapter" and just read the first one of each.
Just not what I look for in a book, really.
May 4, 2017
Some 50 essays written over the last 10 years by the journalist George Monbiot, probably for the Guardian. They cover the environment, economics, social justice and much more. He’s a passionate, sometimes witty and well-researched writer who carefully documents everything with extensive footnotes.
It’s hard to disagree with anything he’s written about - or his solutions, even if they appear to be utopian. But still, it is wearing to read of so many problems. Without trying to be a Polyanna, I found myself hoping by the halfway point, there might be at least one essay about an issue with a happy or successful outcome. And I suppose there was, about the re-wilding of the countryside.
But really, you should not read the whole lot at once. A few essays go a long way.
Quotes:
“Neoliberalism, far from revealing biological laws, describes a system that creates its own reality”
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chain stores”
“It’s no coincidence that most of those who are obsessed with population growth are post-reproductive wealthy white men: it’s about the only environmental issue for which they can’t be blamed.”
It’s hard to disagree with anything he’s written about - or his solutions, even if they appear to be utopian. But still, it is wearing to read of so many problems. Without trying to be a Polyanna, I found myself hoping by the halfway point, there might be at least one essay about an issue with a happy or successful outcome. And I suppose there was, about the re-wilding of the countryside.
But really, you should not read the whole lot at once. A few essays go a long way.
Quotes:
“Neoliberalism, far from revealing biological laws, describes a system that creates its own reality”
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chain stores”
“It’s no coincidence that most of those who are obsessed with population growth are post-reproductive wealthy white men: it’s about the only environmental issue for which they can’t be blamed.”
October 31, 2016
I was anticipating an in-depth unpacking of Neoliberalism from Monobiot's perspective. I had read an article of his on the subject, published just before the book was released, and I hastily bought the book. Marketing ftw. The book is actually a collection of Monbiot's essays and articles from the last few years ranging in subject matter from neoliberalism and some pretty absurd and paranoid legislation introduced in the UK, through to soil health/erosion in the UK and whales. All were lovely reads and Monbiot is a snappy writer. I enjoyed reading it, despite it not being what I had hoped it would be.
August 12, 2018
This is the primal scream of criticism against an absurd world. Our planet and its creations of great beauty are being consumed in the maw of greed and self-aggrandizement so shameful as to make even the Sun King and his courtiers blush were they not covered in rouge at the time. That we cannot continue in this vein ought to be evident, but Mr. Monbiot gives us plenty of reasons to believe that it is not.
August, 2018
Some second thoughts: hyperbole is one of this author’s faults, and nowhere so apparent as in his associating a number of thinkers of the 19th century with later German atrocities. It is true that some of the views of Francis Galton, Herbert Spencer and others were distorted for political purposes by the Nazis, but let’s not lay the blame for the entire colonial period and the Holocaust on these British thinkers. The fascists and colonialists were perfectly capable of taking the works of others and using them for their own purposes. Further, at one point Mr. Monbiot mischaracterizes Charles Darwin’s writings by implying that he was in favor of “exterminating” so-called savages, using a modern definition of this word, loaded with 20th century meaning. Stephen Jay Gould would turn over in his grave upon reading that!
August, 2018
Some second thoughts: hyperbole is one of this author’s faults, and nowhere so apparent as in his associating a number of thinkers of the 19th century with later German atrocities. It is true that some of the views of Francis Galton, Herbert Spencer and others were distorted for political purposes by the Nazis, but let’s not lay the blame for the entire colonial period and the Holocaust on these British thinkers. The fascists and colonialists were perfectly capable of taking the works of others and using them for their own purposes. Further, at one point Mr. Monbiot mischaracterizes Charles Darwin’s writings by implying that he was in favor of “exterminating” so-called savages, using a modern definition of this word, loaded with 20th century meaning. Stephen Jay Gould would turn over in his grave upon reading that!
May 24, 2016
This book is a collection of essays written by George Monbiot, whom I had never heard of before but is now one of my favorite journalists, throughout the last 10+ years. It helps that I agree with Mr. Monbiot on nearly every point he makes, but beyond my political affinity for his views he once again illustrates that good journalists write the best books. Even when they are written by people I can't stand, books written by journalists are almost always fantastic reads. Luckily, I now adore Mr. Monbiot AND he holds true to the standard of authorship I have set for journalists.
Covering topics such as environmental preservation, Scottish independence, money in politics, economic development, and many other hot-topics of the day, George Monbiot provides readers with citation-heavy essays arguing his points of view --with plenty of scientific and evidence-based backup. While I am fairly well-informed in most of these topics, I still learned so much from this book (and developed a bit of consumerism guilt, I won't lie) and recommend it to everyone interested in current/world affairs. Not everyone will agree with his views on these subjects, but I doubt they can argue that the man knows how to research and write with the best of them.
I received this book at part of the Goodreads givaways program.
Covering topics such as environmental preservation, Scottish independence, money in politics, economic development, and many other hot-topics of the day, George Monbiot provides readers with citation-heavy essays arguing his points of view --with plenty of scientific and evidence-based backup. While I am fairly well-informed in most of these topics, I still learned so much from this book (and developed a bit of consumerism guilt, I won't lie) and recommend it to everyone interested in current/world affairs. Not everyone will agree with his views on these subjects, but I doubt they can argue that the man knows how to research and write with the best of them.
I received this book at part of the Goodreads givaways program.
October 23, 2016
I only give 5 stars to books that change my thinking, or make me see something in a new way.
Do not read this if you are satisfied with the status quo of UK and US government and laws. Do not. It will likely change the way you look at things.
Top notch. Now I have to discover what it is I can do to help make things better.
Do not read this if you are satisfied with the status quo of UK and US government and laws. Do not. It will likely change the way you look at things.
Top notch. Now I have to discover what it is I can do to help make things better.
December 2, 2017
โคตรมันส์เลยครับ หนังสือมันเกี่ยวกับหลายเรื่องมาก เพราะรวมมาจากข้อเขียนวิจารณ์สังคมจากที่นู่นที่นี่ แต่คมทุกบท บางบทแทบจะโควตได้ทุกย่อหน้า ดีงามครับ ไปจัด!
June 20, 2017
4.5 Stars!
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and George Monbiot is a dangerously knowledgeable man, quite simply he is one of the most insightful, rational and important voices writing in the UK today. If you have never had the pleasure of reading him, then I strongly suggest you do yourself a favour and do so. At times he is like a more restrained and focused Chomsky, his overall style and the topics he tackles in his writing fall somewhere nicely between A.C. Grayling, Ben Goldacre and Naomi Klein.
This is a collection of superbly argued essays and articles that focus largely on the environment, education and many other serious politics issues. From the insidiousness of sheep grazing, the TTIP, Obama’s drone attacks killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children in Pakistan and Yemen, or revealing that the owners of grouse shooting estates in England, almost always owned by the super-rich, receive some £37 million of public money in subsidies. He always has something interesting to say or shocking to reveal and plenty to teach, like explaining wonderful terms such as Kleptoremuneration and the Self Attribution Fallacy.
“Drugs policy in most nations is a matter of religion, not science.” sums up his thoughts on most governments’ attempts at tackling drugs. He explores the mental health issues of sending off young children to boarding schools and its impact in adulthood, concluding, “A repressed, traumatised elite, unable to connect emotionally with others, is a danger to society: look at the men who oversaw the First World War.” At one point when discussing the total lack of commitment by world governments to make any meaningful change with climate change, he says, “The effort of governments are concentrated not on defending the living Earth from destruction, but on defending the machine that is destroying it.” he likens it as follows, “Imagine trying to protect elephants and rhinos by only banning the purchase of their tusks and horns, without limiting killing, export or sale. Imagine trying to bring slavery to an end not by stopping the transatlantic trade, but by seeking only to discourage people from buying slaves once they had arrived in the Americas. If you want to discourage a harmful trade, you must address it at both ends: production and consumption. Of the two, production is the most important.”
This is an excellent collection. Monbiot provides a clear, strong voice for those who so often don’t have one, certainly not one that is paid attention to in the higher echelons of the system. This book will make you angry, if not rage, it will make you think and maybe even make you act. It certainly makes for essential reading.
Read
July 14, 2020I started reading this on 15 Feb 2020, just as the reality of SARS-CoV-2 was breaking into consciousness. This was a mistake. It was not the best book to be reading through lockdown, so no rating from me. Good writing, though.
March 23, 2019
The Value of Everything
An excellent selection of essays from a voice that I was shocked to find exists primarily in The Guardian newspaper in Britain. Despite being a left leaning paper, I would hardly count it as an institution that would allow a printing of the topics Monbiot covers here.
We need more voices like Monbiot, especially in the field of Journalism. I would highly recommend this to people situated in the UK, but also to anyone interested in current affairs of the West. The articles here only travel up to 2014/2015, but remain highly relevant still.
Monbiots website:
https://www.monbiot.com
A particularly interesting article written here features the author placing his earnings and outside support for public view on his website. Definitely check it out, it's a call for journalists and individuals who should be working for the public good to be transparent about who's funding them.
Recommended journalists for further reading:
Abby Martin (Empire Files via YouTube)
Chris Hedges (check Goodreads)
Matt Taibbi (check Goodreads)
John Pilger (Check YouTube documentaries and goodreads)
Naomi Klein (check Goodreads)
An excellent selection of essays from a voice that I was shocked to find exists primarily in The Guardian newspaper in Britain. Despite being a left leaning paper, I would hardly count it as an institution that would allow a printing of the topics Monbiot covers here.
We need more voices like Monbiot, especially in the field of Journalism. I would highly recommend this to people situated in the UK, but also to anyone interested in current affairs of the West. The articles here only travel up to 2014/2015, but remain highly relevant still.
Monbiots website:
https://www.monbiot.com
A particularly interesting article written here features the author placing his earnings and outside support for public view on his website. Definitely check it out, it's a call for journalists and individuals who should be working for the public good to be transparent about who's funding them.
Recommended journalists for further reading:
Abby Martin (Empire Files via YouTube)
Chris Hedges (check Goodreads)
Matt Taibbi (check Goodreads)
John Pilger (Check YouTube documentaries and goodreads)
Naomi Klein (check Goodreads)
September 4, 2016
Similar to Bring on the Apocalypse, another collection of essays, some dated and some focused on the UK. Incisive commentary on the environment, inequality, technology, etc. Worth a read just for the occasional sarcastic and cynic barbs he throws out.
July 12, 2022
Fine! An anthology of articles, so it’s repetitive in places, but he’s saying all the right things that make my brain feel nice
April 27, 2017
George Monbiot's 50 or so short essays (originally published, mostly in the Guardian, between 2007 to 2015) in his rather Naomi Kleinesque book 'How did we get into this mess' (VERSO, 2016) is a big fuck you at the neoliberal consensus, looking at various aspects of this fucked up, inhumane, soul crushing, people and planet destroying hegemonic ideology, including education, poverty, the environment, health, relationships, religion, science, culture, development etc. But it's not just a fuck you and a very loud scream at the devastating social, economic and environmental injustice of our time (Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh), he also presents 'modest proposals' for a different, more humane and just way of social and economic organization.
For most people 'interested' in the neoliberal reorganization of the entire f planet over the past four decades or so, none of this is entirely new. Still, it is powerful, and critical, to combine the many pieces of destruction, exploitation and alienation into a bigger picture since we will only be able to move beyond today's 'consensus' by challenging and rejecting it's broader underlying ideology. So, despite the gloomy nature of the book, somewhat inspriring. It's a little heavy on the environmental end, which is probably justified, but not really 'my thing'.
For most people 'interested' in the neoliberal reorganization of the entire f planet over the past four decades or so, none of this is entirely new. Still, it is powerful, and critical, to combine the many pieces of destruction, exploitation and alienation into a bigger picture since we will only be able to move beyond today's 'consensus' by challenging and rejecting it's broader underlying ideology. So, despite the gloomy nature of the book, somewhat inspriring. It's a little heavy on the environmental end, which is probably justified, but not really 'my thing'.
August 19, 2025
"the freedom of the elite from democratic restraint limits other people's freedom from hunger, poverty, and brutal conditions of employment. it limits free access to health and education; freedom from industrial injuries; freedom from pollution, addiction, loan sharks and confidence tricksters. freedom for the financial sector means speculative chaos, economic crises and bailouts for which the rest of us must pay."
i am not going to write a full review for this, for the very simple reason that the book was a collection of many articles written by george monbiot between 2007 and 2015, and if i were to try to share my thoughts on all fifty-one of them, it would take several hours, and even then, i doubt i would be able to sufficiently explain the importance of monbiot's outspoken leftist activism. what i will say is that how did we get into this mess? serves as an accessible introduction to social justice, environmentalism, and anti-capitalism, touching on many complex academic topics with a journalist's flair and fondness for satire, and is therefore an asset to anyone wanting to learn more about the state of the world, where many of its problems lie, and subsequently explore ways of doing something about it. this did mean that very little of what monbiot discussed was new to me, and i likely would have benefitted more from reading feral or regenesis, but equally, i understand that many of his potential readers will not have degrees in geography, and will be able to gain a lot from his matter-of-fact discussions on environmentalism and equitable social systems.
the book was pleasant to read, insofar as essays on global inequality, discrimination, environmental crises, and poverty can ever be pleasant to read, both because of the writing style and because caring about these issues in a capitalist society can so often feel isolating and almost damning, but the unapologetic dedication monbiot has to the subject matter is reassuring. this book is proof that people are fighting for a better world, with the tools available to them, and that for every aspiring fascist or budding ceo, there are a dozen regular people trying to rebuild their community, or plant an orchard, or set up food banks and donation centres for those in need, or protest against the neoliberal regime. it is proof that yes, we do live in a world which has been pushed beyond its limits, but so long as people care, there will always be hope for something better, and hope may well be where change begins. and i say this as someone who does not have an optimistic bone in his body. i am, for lack of a better term, a cynical realist when it comes to the state of society, but i refuse to let go of the hope for something better, and be like many of monbiot's old friends who fell into the cyclical trap of capitalism just to survive. hope is a daunting thing, as evidenced by the plethora of global issues touched on in these three hundred pages alone, but giving up is dangerous. and i will continue to support george monbiot, his writing, and his activism, because this world needs more people willing to use their platforms and income for widespread public good.
the problems he was discussing in the late 2000s and early 2010s are still present today (he made a comment on the occupation of gaza back in 2014 which only hit harder given the current genocide, but this review is not the place for me to talk about that particular horror), and maybe that would lead to some people arguing that these articles are not doing anything, but i would beg to differ. many academics say that education and awareness raising are the first steps to tangible impact, which is precisely why i would recommend this book to those who do not share my educational background, but care about people and the planet. the purpose of this book, i think, is to further prevent the crimes of the elite, the blindness of the general public, the destruction of our ecosystems, and the crises of supply and demand from continuing to go unnoticed. and maybe his words will give more people something to believe in, and fight for.
"to be at peace with a troubled world: this is not a reasonable aim. it can be achieved only through a disavowal of what surrounds you. to be at peace with yourself within a troubled world: that, by contrast, is an honourable aspiration."
i am not going to write a full review for this, for the very simple reason that the book was a collection of many articles written by george monbiot between 2007 and 2015, and if i were to try to share my thoughts on all fifty-one of them, it would take several hours, and even then, i doubt i would be able to sufficiently explain the importance of monbiot's outspoken leftist activism. what i will say is that how did we get into this mess? serves as an accessible introduction to social justice, environmentalism, and anti-capitalism, touching on many complex academic topics with a journalist's flair and fondness for satire, and is therefore an asset to anyone wanting to learn more about the state of the world, where many of its problems lie, and subsequently explore ways of doing something about it. this did mean that very little of what monbiot discussed was new to me, and i likely would have benefitted more from reading feral or regenesis, but equally, i understand that many of his potential readers will not have degrees in geography, and will be able to gain a lot from his matter-of-fact discussions on environmentalism and equitable social systems.
the book was pleasant to read, insofar as essays on global inequality, discrimination, environmental crises, and poverty can ever be pleasant to read, both because of the writing style and because caring about these issues in a capitalist society can so often feel isolating and almost damning, but the unapologetic dedication monbiot has to the subject matter is reassuring. this book is proof that people are fighting for a better world, with the tools available to them, and that for every aspiring fascist or budding ceo, there are a dozen regular people trying to rebuild their community, or plant an orchard, or set up food banks and donation centres for those in need, or protest against the neoliberal regime. it is proof that yes, we do live in a world which has been pushed beyond its limits, but so long as people care, there will always be hope for something better, and hope may well be where change begins. and i say this as someone who does not have an optimistic bone in his body. i am, for lack of a better term, a cynical realist when it comes to the state of society, but i refuse to let go of the hope for something better, and be like many of monbiot's old friends who fell into the cyclical trap of capitalism just to survive. hope is a daunting thing, as evidenced by the plethora of global issues touched on in these three hundred pages alone, but giving up is dangerous. and i will continue to support george monbiot, his writing, and his activism, because this world needs more people willing to use their platforms and income for widespread public good.
the problems he was discussing in the late 2000s and early 2010s are still present today (he made a comment on the occupation of gaza back in 2014 which only hit harder given the current genocide, but this review is not the place for me to talk about that particular horror), and maybe that would lead to some people arguing that these articles are not doing anything, but i would beg to differ. many academics say that education and awareness raising are the first steps to tangible impact, which is precisely why i would recommend this book to those who do not share my educational background, but care about people and the planet. the purpose of this book, i think, is to further prevent the crimes of the elite, the blindness of the general public, the destruction of our ecosystems, and the crises of supply and demand from continuing to go unnoticed. and maybe his words will give more people something to believe in, and fight for.
"to be at peace with a troubled world: this is not a reasonable aim. it can be achieved only through a disavowal of what surrounds you. to be at peace with yourself within a troubled world: that, by contrast, is an honourable aspiration."
March 23, 2025
this collection taught me a bunch about so many topics like environmental policies and injustices around the world in bite-sized essays. the format was perfect as i tend to get bored reading long nonfic texts & i now have a solid base of knowledge to expand on. monbiot's writing is also nice to read and quite funny at times & i'm glad i read more of his work beyond high school english class
October 6, 2019
I know nothing about the author. I happened up the book and bought it when Verso publisher was having a super duper sale on e-books so I bought it for just a few dollars. Given many of these essays are about money, market forces, consumerism and such; I wonder if he would have a comment on how I ended up with his book? Maybe not.
Anyway, there are quite a few articles here and while he has a politically progress, or maybe radical (for most conventional political types) the topics range about and while each was interesting and compelling, by the end of the book I couldn’t quite remember what I just read. Obviously some of that is on me, but still, I wish there was a stronger story-line stringing each chapter together. BUT since it was probably just a collection pulled in for publication I can see what it didn’t work out that way.
Scanning my piss poor memory and my kindle highlights here are some of the topics he covered.
Conservation and relationship to nature
He took the time to tell the story of how when he was at some camping function with children and he found a road kill squirrel the kids were fascinated in how he prepared to cook the squirrel. He may have making a point about eating animals is something humans do so it is no big deal. But really he was complaining about other people criticizing him for doing it.
I get his point and agree that if he knows how to do it, the act is better than factory meat farming. But some people will always freak out about such thing even as they eat their mass produced steaks and chicken wings, so why the big surprise?
But he goes on to show that today’s children have less and less contact with nature and the world away from cities. And hey maybe that is fundamentally the wrong way to thing about growing up. In fact that may be some of his best stuff. My interpretation of his view is that we, as humans, evolved interacting with nature and since the modern age society is trying to make us into something we are not naturally prone to be.
Humans are social creatures, and capitalism (neo-liberalism) is bent on turning people in to commodities. The drive to be individual sounds nice but is really just a way to get people to believe they don’t need others or society. This works out wonderfully for the powerful who then blame the poor for being poor, the sick for being sick, and so on.
We were social creatures from the start, mammalian bees, who depended entirely on each other. The hominids of East Africa could not have survived one night alone. We are shaped, to a greater extent than almost any other species, by contact with others. The age we are entering, in which we exist apart, is unlike any that has gone before. Location 169-172
But the wildness of nature works against running and industrial world and we are being trained to look at the world not through the eyes of a naturalist but through, well some other way.
Linearity, control and management dominate our lives. We fetishise progress: a continuous movement in the same direction. We impose our lines on the messy, contradictory and meandering realities of the human world, because otherwise we would be completely lost in it. We make compartments simple enough, amid the labyrinths we have created, to navigate and understand. Location 1112-1115
Ironically to me, what happens is a business world view ends up never addressing problems directly or practically. It is always through a neo-liberal approach of the magic hand of capitalism solving all problems. You can’t identify a problem and try to fix it directly, like a bad road or bridge, or health care or education, meaning you can’t decide to pay to repair the roads, pay teachers, pay for somebody to have doctor. You have to find business incentives and just hope it all works out.
Was it too much to have asked of the world’s governments, which performed such miracles in developing stealth bombers and drone warfare, global markets and trillion-dollar bail-outs, that they might spend a tenth of the energy and resources they devoted to these projects on defending our living planet? It seems, sadly, that it was. Location 1238-1241
The smartest people are not encouraged to solve the problems of people, but instead they have to find ways to com modify life and allow businesses to profit from it.
The world’s most inventive minds are deployed not to improve the lot of humankind but to devise ever more effective means of stimulation, to counteract the diminishing satisfactions of consumption. The mutual dependencies of consumer capitalism ensure that we all unwittingly conspire in the trashing of what may be the only living planet. The failure at Rio de Janeiro belongs to us all. Location 1204-1207
OK, I kind of went of script (oh if I only really did have a script) but still he seems to be saying if the world seems a little crazy and illogical, well, maybe it is.
So if you don’t fit in; if you feel at odds with the world; if your identity is troubled and frayed; if you feel lost and ashamed, it could be because you have retained the human values you were supposed to have discarded. You are a deviant. Be proud. Location 268-269
And of course I am going to like it when he brings up something that I noticed. Such as hedge fund mangers can come in a ruin a company, hurt the employees, yet they are rewarded for making things worse while the bus boy or dishwasher at a restaurant actually do more good but are paid at the lowest level.
There is an inverse relationship between utility and reward. The most lucrative, prestigious jobs tend to cause the greatest harm. The most useful workers tend to be paid the least and treated the worst. Location 2196-2198
Reading their work, it seems to me that if you have psychopathic tendencies and are born to a poor family you’re likely to go to prison. If you have psychopathic tendencies and are born to a rich family you’re likely to go to business Location 2272-2274
There is more on how flood management is handled in such a counter productive way so the more money spent on it the worse it gets.
And some more bad stuff.
He writes well, and I think if the reader has an open mind they will have to agree with most of his conclusions.
And my conclusion after reading his book is WE ARE ALL DOOMED!!!
Anyway, there are quite a few articles here and while he has a politically progress, or maybe radical (for most conventional political types) the topics range about and while each was interesting and compelling, by the end of the book I couldn’t quite remember what I just read. Obviously some of that is on me, but still, I wish there was a stronger story-line stringing each chapter together. BUT since it was probably just a collection pulled in for publication I can see what it didn’t work out that way.
Scanning my piss poor memory and my kindle highlights here are some of the topics he covered.
Conservation and relationship to nature
He took the time to tell the story of how when he was at some camping function with children and he found a road kill squirrel the kids were fascinated in how he prepared to cook the squirrel. He may have making a point about eating animals is something humans do so it is no big deal. But really he was complaining about other people criticizing him for doing it.
I get his point and agree that if he knows how to do it, the act is better than factory meat farming. But some people will always freak out about such thing even as they eat their mass produced steaks and chicken wings, so why the big surprise?
But he goes on to show that today’s children have less and less contact with nature and the world away from cities. And hey maybe that is fundamentally the wrong way to thing about growing up. In fact that may be some of his best stuff. My interpretation of his view is that we, as humans, evolved interacting with nature and since the modern age society is trying to make us into something we are not naturally prone to be.
Humans are social creatures, and capitalism (neo-liberalism) is bent on turning people in to commodities. The drive to be individual sounds nice but is really just a way to get people to believe they don’t need others or society. This works out wonderfully for the powerful who then blame the poor for being poor, the sick for being sick, and so on.
We were social creatures from the start, mammalian bees, who depended entirely on each other. The hominids of East Africa could not have survived one night alone. We are shaped, to a greater extent than almost any other species, by contact with others. The age we are entering, in which we exist apart, is unlike any that has gone before. Location 169-172
But the wildness of nature works against running and industrial world and we are being trained to look at the world not through the eyes of a naturalist but through, well some other way.
Linearity, control and management dominate our lives. We fetishise progress: a continuous movement in the same direction. We impose our lines on the messy, contradictory and meandering realities of the human world, because otherwise we would be completely lost in it. We make compartments simple enough, amid the labyrinths we have created, to navigate and understand. Location 1112-1115
Ironically to me, what happens is a business world view ends up never addressing problems directly or practically. It is always through a neo-liberal approach of the magic hand of capitalism solving all problems. You can’t identify a problem and try to fix it directly, like a bad road or bridge, or health care or education, meaning you can’t decide to pay to repair the roads, pay teachers, pay for somebody to have doctor. You have to find business incentives and just hope it all works out.
Was it too much to have asked of the world’s governments, which performed such miracles in developing stealth bombers and drone warfare, global markets and trillion-dollar bail-outs, that they might spend a tenth of the energy and resources they devoted to these projects on defending our living planet? It seems, sadly, that it was. Location 1238-1241
The smartest people are not encouraged to solve the problems of people, but instead they have to find ways to com modify life and allow businesses to profit from it.
The world’s most inventive minds are deployed not to improve the lot of humankind but to devise ever more effective means of stimulation, to counteract the diminishing satisfactions of consumption. The mutual dependencies of consumer capitalism ensure that we all unwittingly conspire in the trashing of what may be the only living planet. The failure at Rio de Janeiro belongs to us all. Location 1204-1207
OK, I kind of went of script (oh if I only really did have a script) but still he seems to be saying if the world seems a little crazy and illogical, well, maybe it is.
So if you don’t fit in; if you feel at odds with the world; if your identity is troubled and frayed; if you feel lost and ashamed, it could be because you have retained the human values you were supposed to have discarded. You are a deviant. Be proud. Location 268-269
And of course I am going to like it when he brings up something that I noticed. Such as hedge fund mangers can come in a ruin a company, hurt the employees, yet they are rewarded for making things worse while the bus boy or dishwasher at a restaurant actually do more good but are paid at the lowest level.
There is an inverse relationship between utility and reward. The most lucrative, prestigious jobs tend to cause the greatest harm. The most useful workers tend to be paid the least and treated the worst. Location 2196-2198
Reading their work, it seems to me that if you have psychopathic tendencies and are born to a poor family you’re likely to go to prison. If you have psychopathic tendencies and are born to a rich family you’re likely to go to business Location 2272-2274
There is more on how flood management is handled in such a counter productive way so the more money spent on it the worse it gets.
And some more bad stuff.
He writes well, and I think if the reader has an open mind they will have to agree with most of his conclusions.
And my conclusion after reading his book is WE ARE ALL DOOMED!!!
May 8, 2016
26th book for 2016.
This collection of 51 articles, dating between 2008 and 2015, of George Monbiot's weekly Guardian column covers a gamut of issues from the place of children in urban spaces, to critiques of neo-liberalism, to the importance of wilderness in people's lives.
There are some great gems here - Monbiot even credits two for starting the Keep-it-in-the-Ground campaign and the anti-TTIP movement. However in keeping with a weekly column in a UK paper, most of the stories focus on the UK, with a few mentions of Australia and more of the US, but none of even nearby Germany, France or Spain (let alone the rest of the World). Given this bias, I understand better now Monbiot's recent statement that a Brexit wouldn't be terrible if it killed TTIP.
Readers who, given the title, are expecting some overarching thesis regarding global neocapitalism and its detrimental effects to society and the environment will be disappointed. The UK focus and and 2000-word limit on each of the stories makes for a somewhat parochial and disjointed read. There is some synthesis here, but it is limited, and many of the articles will only interest UK readers.
I like Monbiot, and hope he gets around to writing the book of the title in the not too distant future.
This collection of 51 articles, dating between 2008 and 2015, of George Monbiot's weekly Guardian column covers a gamut of issues from the place of children in urban spaces, to critiques of neo-liberalism, to the importance of wilderness in people's lives.
There are some great gems here - Monbiot even credits two for starting the Keep-it-in-the-Ground campaign and the anti-TTIP movement. However in keeping with a weekly column in a UK paper, most of the stories focus on the UK, with a few mentions of Australia and more of the US, but none of even nearby Germany, France or Spain (let alone the rest of the World). Given this bias, I understand better now Monbiot's recent statement that a Brexit wouldn't be terrible if it killed TTIP.
Readers who, given the title, are expecting some overarching thesis regarding global neocapitalism and its detrimental effects to society and the environment will be disappointed. The UK focus and and 2000-word limit on each of the stories makes for a somewhat parochial and disjointed read. There is some synthesis here, but it is limited, and many of the articles will only interest UK readers.
I like Monbiot, and hope he gets around to writing the book of the title in the not too distant future.
March 21, 2017
Not exactly what I was expecting when I first picked it up, this collection of essays does a great job defining the present situation. It opens up with the question of what is neoliberalism, and spends the rest of the book defining the systems that exist today that make up "neoliberalism". While the essays are grouped together in themes, I felt that they deserved an intro, or maybe an end to each section to tie them all together. They aren't particularly hard to relate to one another, this is probably due more to the organization than anything. The essays are never in chronological order (which was a smart choice), allowing the reader to be surprised by the date mentioned at the end of essay. I found myself saying several times, "wow, this has been going on that long?".
Overall, Monbiot takes on the mammoth task of trying to define in what happens after "the end of history" and delivers a merciless, thought provoking, questioning diatribe of the powers that be, and the systems they have created to lull the public into not caring, or at the very least, make the public completely unaware.
Overall, Monbiot takes on the mammoth task of trying to define in what happens after "the end of history" and delivers a merciless, thought provoking, questioning diatribe of the powers that be, and the systems they have created to lull the public into not caring, or at the very least, make the public completely unaware.
April 11, 2016
Bought this without reading what it was all about, and so wasn't aware it was a collection of his articles, by and large which I had already read which was slightly disappointing.
A collection of his articles is pretty heavy going one after the other, nonetheless still covers important topics and at least the couple I hadn't read provided something new.
If you religiously read his work already I don't recommend this book.
A collection of his articles is pretty heavy going one after the other, nonetheless still covers important topics and at least the couple I hadn't read provided something new.
If you religiously read his work already I don't recommend this book.
September 17, 2017
First of his material that I've read and blown away by the clarity and light that he sheds on topics so often shied away from, especially with the larger news/media outlets. Came across as the Noam Chomsky equivalent for U.K. concerns.
April 19, 2023
301.09051 M742h
April 19, 2024
A collection of columns about climate change and environmental politics. My favourite was "Dawning", an account of Monbiot's pre-dawn walks, "when both nocturnal and diurnal beasts are roaming... animals that melt away like snow as the sun rises." (108) Also an account of the time he found, dismembered, and ate a piece of fresh roadkill. He was on a school camp with a bunch of students. Expecting them to be repulsed, they were in fact curious about the dead animal, its anatomy, what it would taste like, how it would decompose. I think they must have experienced that primeval wonderment which is the origin of the desire to protect nature.
In "The Gift of Death", Monbiot riffs on the insane tradition of giving people pointless cheap junk gifts, the sort of crap that circulates on birthdays and holidays. Unsurprisingly, less than 1% of the goods flowing through the consumer economy remain in use six months after sale:
On politics, I find Monbiot a little bit too "the bankers, the bonuses"-ey (although in fairness, columns must be brief and shallow). I found his perspective valuable, but I don't really agree, however, that action on climate change must be driven from above. The details are vague, but he implies some kind of left-wing technocracy that will break the billionaire class, shatter the international corporations, and usher in a new post-fossil fuel world.
The focus on the wealthiest individuals always feels disproportionate. Yes, someone zipping around on his private WallyPower 118 yacht--which burns 3,400 litres of fuel per hour--does "more damage to the biosphere in ten minutes than most Africans inflict in a lifetime." (105) But in emphasising that fella's exorbitance, I think we condition ourselves to turn a blind eye to our own. Even an average, non-rich person in a first-world country still lives a life of waste and abundance unimaginable to the poorest human beings on earth.
Predicating all change on the success of a populist strike at the wealthiest 1% renders us callously indifferent to the impact of our own lives. In particular, it undervalues the worth of a lot of small actions and their ability to motivate and bring about larger change. No surprise then that the fundamentally nervous, left-sympathetic, climate-anxious urbanite is more pessimistic and apathetic than ever. If the world is fucked, why does it matter what he does? If he is so insignificant compared to the bloke with the yacht, why shouldn't he also go on trips overseas and eat shrink-wrapped beef? I've met hundreds of people like this. Faced with the contradiction between their noble beliefs and their inattentive, uninspiring lives, they prefers to bring things back around to the bankers and the bonuses. Convinced they cannot do anything more than vote for the right parties, they even seem to welcome the apocalypse that will be climate collapse
The anti-consumerist, alter-globalist messengers of the 1990s had a lot of important, confronting things to tell us. But they wagered everything on what Naomi Klein called "building a winning coalition." It was enough to write the manifesto, raise everyone's awareness levels, sweep the general election, and then set about reprogramming the doomsday machine. The hard work would always come later. Less attention was paid to the vigorous social and communal life necessary to sustain political action in the first place.
So rather than beating up on utopian politics, let me share on example of effective chagne that is communal, incremental, practical, and hopeful. Sheep farming has dominated the Wairarapa ever since the Pākehā moved in in 1853. Many of the old paddocks are now depleted. Decades of grazing has compacted the ground, making it so stony that hardly anything can grow there. But recently, out Greytown way, a couple have set up a big vege garden using no-till methods. Their strategy is to buy up these old, marginal blocks of land that nobody wants and slowly regenerate them into something useful and lasting. Now they grow enough food to feed 70 local households.
That was achieved by two people. Yeah, it's not enough to save the world, but it's a hell of a lot more than what most are willing to do. Such actions, modest in scope but expansive in heart, are within the reach of far more of us than we think.
In "The Gift of Death", Monbiot riffs on the insane tradition of giving people pointless cheap junk gifts, the sort of crap that circulates on birthdays and holidays. Unsurprisingly, less than 1% of the goods flowing through the consumer economy remain in use six months after sale:
They seem amusing on the first day of Christmas, daft on the second, embarrassing on the third. By the twelfth they're in landfill. For thirty seconds of dubious entertainment, or a hedonic stimulus that lasts no longer than a nicotine hit, we commission the use of materials whose impacts will ramify for generations. (201)
On politics, I find Monbiot a little bit too "the bankers, the bonuses"-ey (although in fairness, columns must be brief and shallow). I found his perspective valuable, but I don't really agree, however, that action on climate change must be driven from above. The details are vague, but he implies some kind of left-wing technocracy that will break the billionaire class, shatter the international corporations, and usher in a new post-fossil fuel world.
The focus on the wealthiest individuals always feels disproportionate. Yes, someone zipping around on his private WallyPower 118 yacht--which burns 3,400 litres of fuel per hour--does "more damage to the biosphere in ten minutes than most Africans inflict in a lifetime." (105) But in emphasising that fella's exorbitance, I think we condition ourselves to turn a blind eye to our own. Even an average, non-rich person in a first-world country still lives a life of waste and abundance unimaginable to the poorest human beings on earth.
Predicating all change on the success of a populist strike at the wealthiest 1% renders us callously indifferent to the impact of our own lives. In particular, it undervalues the worth of a lot of small actions and their ability to motivate and bring about larger change. No surprise then that the fundamentally nervous, left-sympathetic, climate-anxious urbanite is more pessimistic and apathetic than ever. If the world is fucked, why does it matter what he does? If he is so insignificant compared to the bloke with the yacht, why shouldn't he also go on trips overseas and eat shrink-wrapped beef? I've met hundreds of people like this. Faced with the contradiction between their noble beliefs and their inattentive, uninspiring lives, they prefers to bring things back around to the bankers and the bonuses. Convinced they cannot do anything more than vote for the right parties, they even seem to welcome the apocalypse that will be climate collapse
The anti-consumerist, alter-globalist messengers of the 1990s had a lot of important, confronting things to tell us. But they wagered everything on what Naomi Klein called "building a winning coalition." It was enough to write the manifesto, raise everyone's awareness levels, sweep the general election, and then set about reprogramming the doomsday machine. The hard work would always come later. Less attention was paid to the vigorous social and communal life necessary to sustain political action in the first place.
So rather than beating up on utopian politics, let me share on example of effective chagne that is communal, incremental, practical, and hopeful. Sheep farming has dominated the Wairarapa ever since the Pākehā moved in in 1853. Many of the old paddocks are now depleted. Decades of grazing has compacted the ground, making it so stony that hardly anything can grow there. But recently, out Greytown way, a couple have set up a big vege garden using no-till methods. Their strategy is to buy up these old, marginal blocks of land that nobody wants and slowly regenerate them into something useful and lasting. Now they grow enough food to feed 70 local households.
That was achieved by two people. Yeah, it's not enough to save the world, but it's a hell of a lot more than what most are willing to do. Such actions, modest in scope but expansive in heart, are within the reach of far more of us than we think.
November 11, 2019
Not the book I was hoping for, to be honest - and I am a Monbiot fan. This is not a coherent text. It is a loose collection of essays - Monbiot's "best of" his Guardian writings - from approximately 2007 to 2015. Three or so have a paragraph of contemporary reflections. There is a short introduction that rails rightfully against neoliberalism and market fundamentalism. And that's it. Fool me once, I suppose - after reading some of Monbiot's other book-length pieces, I had thought this would be coherent and at least somewhat narrative. Nothing doing.
Here are the thematic groupings: social issues, children's place in society, rewilding (much here that would contribute to Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life), consumption, energy, market fundamentalism, the effects of the super-rich, late imperialism, English Labour politics, and some nascent possibilities for activism (Scottish independence, etc). Throughout, Monbiot is snappy and critical, making interesting observations and cracking wise, but after article after article after article, you have the feeling of perpetually skimming the surface. And it is tiring.
Look, I like Monbiot and there's much to enjoy here - especially if you enjoy dipping in and dipping out after a few pages. But honestly, it isn't the best thing I've read from him - and you can read most of these in the pages of the Guardian.
Here are the thematic groupings: social issues, children's place in society, rewilding (much here that would contribute to Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life), consumption, energy, market fundamentalism, the effects of the super-rich, late imperialism, English Labour politics, and some nascent possibilities for activism (Scottish independence, etc). Throughout, Monbiot is snappy and critical, making interesting observations and cracking wise, but after article after article after article, you have the feeling of perpetually skimming the surface. And it is tiring.
Look, I like Monbiot and there's much to enjoy here - especially if you enjoy dipping in and dipping out after a few pages. But honestly, it isn't the best thing I've read from him - and you can read most of these in the pages of the Guardian.
April 12, 2019
Reúne crónicas de George Monbiot para o "The Guardian". Um livro inspirador para aqueles que se envergonham das andanças do Mundo e nele padecem do pior dos males : uma consciência ainda desperta, assente em alguns sólidos valores.
"So if you don’t fit in; if you feel at odds with the world; if your identity is troubled and frayed; if you feel lost and ashamed, it could be because you have retained the human values you were supposed to have discarded. You are a deviant. Be proud."
“To seek enlightenment, intellectual or spiritual; to do good; to love and be loved; to create and to teach: these are the highest purposes of humankind. If there is meaning in life, it lies here.”
"So if you don’t fit in; if you feel at odds with the world; if your identity is troubled and frayed; if you feel lost and ashamed, it could be because you have retained the human values you were supposed to have discarded. You are a deviant. Be proud."
“To seek enlightenment, intellectual or spiritual; to do good; to love and be loved; to create and to teach: these are the highest purposes of humankind. If there is meaning in life, it lies here.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2017
Here Guardian columnist George Monbiot records his various articles, spanning over a decade, on subjects such as politics, economics, environment, war, history etc. and compiles them all into one book. The articles are well written and researched, but this is by no means a book with a structured narrative or thesis, more a greatest hits, which makes it easy to pick up and read but there's no real depth to any of the subjects covered which is its main problem. You can also find most of this stuff on his website for free anyway. Read if you want an introductory and broad view of issues of the left but just be mindful there are better writers and books for each of the subjects covered.
October 17, 2023
Just because you can spell George Monbiot without ADHD doesn’t mean you should. I DEVOURED the first half of this book crumbs and all. This dude defo thinks of these arguments in the shower and honestly I kinda like that I can still hear the self-five after every pun. Did get a little preachy towards the end but who knows maybe he can lab-grow Jesus back to life or smth
January 13, 2019
No punches pulled!!! Book included a large number of essays relating to the unjustness of neoliberism, environmental concerns to other social issues.
What I particularly enjoyed was his ability to name names of the persons who showed political cowardice.
A few years behind the times now, but I would encourage you to have a read.
What I particularly enjoyed was his ability to name names of the persons who showed political cowardice.
A few years behind the times now, but I would encourage you to have a read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2021
Interesting book with bite-sized and thought-provoking essays. I had hoped to feel uplifted, but that was not the case. I did however feel validated in some of my own thoughts. Some of what he says I skimmed over -I am less interested in the UK than I realized - but overall I found some nuggets.
November 13, 2022
All of these essays have been written between 2007 and 2015 so some were a little outdated or not relevant anymore, nevertheless the majority was still interesting to read and talked about issues (unfortunately) still going on in 2022.
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